Also, we are celebrating National Butterfly Awareness Day on June 4th. good luck! It was so wonderful to see ladybugs and ladybug larvae running up and down the stems and between the leaves, lacewings (mostly brown ones here) perched about, plus finding their egg clusters hanging on those delicate threads throughout the butterfly garden. Hi Peter…it is if you get it on them. I trim back the eaten up plants and regrow. Keep doing what you’re doing and it will pay off in a year with a better eastern population. I had planted some seeds before I left and when I got home the plants were so big and beautiful (the weeds too! It is very beneficial to cut off parts of the plant that has more infestation, then you can hose off the rest. Also had many eggs that produced caterpillars but then the babies started to disappear. Just started on this journey. Each day since Sunday I’ve been checking the 2 Swamp Milkweed plants that I have, and am down to just a small number each time – but they keep coming! This is now late January and we’ve had temperatures in the 70s and 80s here in southern California for the past 2 months. There are many options to choose from: If you’d like to try companion plants, marigolds and ‘summer beauty’ allium are “supposed” to repel aphids…they also attract butterflies…especially the allium. Everyday since I have found 1-3 and repeated my steps. Here’s are 12 tips to keep that aphid army from ever forming, so you can save your precious milkweed plants for monarchs: 1. the odd thing is that mine “magically” evolve into clumps of orange milkweed nymps within days and eventually adult milkweed bugs and zero yellow aphids remain. Homemade remedies are a longstanding tradition among organic gardeners, who have had to be creative in finding ways to battle insects and diseases without the help of synthetic chemicals.In the case of fighting aphids, or plant lice, two homemade sprays have proven very effective in controlling aphid infestations: tomato leaf spray or garlic oil spray. My fear is that they were eaten by birds…or I accidentally killed them. We raised and released over 100 last year and hope to help more this year. How effective is this strategy? The Oleander Aphid The star of today’s show is the Oleander Aphid ( Aphis nerii ) ( nerii comes from the scientific name for the oleander shrub). I had wanted some seed pods, so I could expand my garden, but the plants and pods were totally consumed by the aphids. I have been plagued with aphids and have been diligent to spray them nightly with a soap mixture. Get more details here: 5. The spraying wasn’t effective. Aphids all have similar life cy… The problem with the aphids is that they hurt the milkweed. I have a problem I haven’t seen addressed here. You’ll need to hold the milkweed plant with your other hand to avoid stem breakage. They’ve taken care of the aphids since 2011…hopefully some of their predators discover your garden! It is still early, and our milkweed patches in Minnesota are still lifeless too. I prefer using the hose and nozzle. California Butterfly Lady, Monika Moore, takes thin strips of banana peels and places them on milkweed stems near buds/blooms where aphids like to congregate…not appealing to aphids! Sounds like a quick, easy, and effective mix. Pay special attention to the undersides of the leaves, because aphids love to hide there. Usually I make an onion spray to evict them & it works phenomenally! In some regions, parasitic wasps have been released to control unwanted pests. 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